After almost 12 years in office, Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert resigned last week, citing health reasons.
“I am grateful to the people of Johnson County for the privilege of serving my community and am incredibly proud of what my office and my amazing staff have done to improve access to voting in Johnson County,” he said in his resignation letter, sent to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors on Thursday.
Weipert did not disclose the nature of his health challenge in his letter.
Travis Weipert was a 31-year-old accountant in his second year on the Tiffin City Council when he was first elected Johnson County Auditor in 2012. Weipert defeated nine-term incumbent Tom Slockett in that year’s June Democratic Primary.
“I’ve been weighing it for two to three months,” Weipert told the Gazette when he announced his challenge to Slockett. “I feel like the auditor’s office lately hasn’t been interacting well with other county departments. I think we’re in need of a change, and now’s that time.”
Weipert won 62 percent of the vote in the 2012 primary. He was unopposed in the general election.
Weipert was running for a fourth term as auditor, but has now withdrawn from the race. He was unopposed, leaving no candidate for Johnson County Auditor in the November election currently. The Johnson County Democratic Party will hold a convention to select a candidate to take Weipert’s place on the ballot. No date for the convention has been announced yet.
First Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards, who is in charge of the office’s accounting division, is serving as acting auditor until the Johnson County Board of Supervisors appoints someone, who will serve on an interim basis until whoever is elected to the position in November takes over.
